In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories (1985) by Alvin Schwartz Hollie Long
This collection of short stories is designed for beginning readers and is a part of the I Can Read series of books. The stories are ghost stories for children. The recommended age is 4 and up. Illustrations accompany many of the stories.
Borgna Brunner lists this as a banned book because it is “too morbid for children” (2007). While this book has not made the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged or banned books in the past two decades, the author does have other books on the list.
The reviews on Amazon.com are mostly favorable; however, most of the reviewers are adults writing from their viewpoint now, not as children. There are several reviewers that explain the nightmares their children had after reading or hearing the book and seeing the pictures. Some reviewers recommend the book, but for older children instead.
Jacqueline Tisdale: This story is too scarey for kids at age 4. I remember students reading this book in elementary school and I would get nightmares from it. I think they are designed more for kids over the age of 9. The situations in the story are just too scary and mature for children younger than that.
Hollie Long
This collection of short stories is designed for beginning readers and is a part of the I Can Read series of books. The stories are ghost stories for children. The recommended age is 4 and up. Illustrations accompany many of the stories.
Borgna Brunner lists this as a banned book because it is “too morbid for children” (2007). While this book has not made the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged or banned books in the past two decades, the author does have other books on the list.
The reviews on Amazon.com are mostly favorable; however, most of the reviewers are adults writing from their viewpoint now, not as children. There are several reviewers that explain the nightmares their children had after reading or hearing the book and seeing the pictures. Some reviewers recommend the book, but for older children instead.
Jacqueline Tisdale: This story is too scarey for kids at age 4. I remember students reading this book in elementary school and I would get nightmares from it. I think they are designed more for kids over the age of 9. The situations in the story are just too scary and mature for children younger than that.
Brunner, B. (2007). Banned books. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-kids-books.html
In a dark, dark, room and other scary stories. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Other-Scary-Stories-Reading/product-reviews/0064440907/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1